Pumping mecmanism for washing machines



Dec. 16, 1930. G. w. DUNHAM PUMPING MECHANISM FOR WASHING MACHINES Original Filed June 18, 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR 11 94mm ATTQRNEY Dec. 16, 1930. G. w. DUNHAM PUMPING MECHANISM FOR WASHING MACHINES 3 Sheets-Shet 2 Original Filed June 18 INVENTOR 62073: 31 f u 11m ATTORNEY Dec. 16, 1930. G. w. DUNHAM PUMPING MECHANISM FOR WASHING MACHINES Original Filed June 18, 1925' a Sheets-Sheet 5 Fig.4.

INVENTOR ATTORNEY reamed Dec. 16, 1930 UNITED STATES PATENT, est-ms GEORGE W. DUNHAM, OF NEW YOK, N Y., ASSIII GNOR TO WHIRLDRY CORPORATION, OF

UTICA, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION 01 NEW YORK I'UIPING MECHANISM FOR WASHING Application filed June 18, 1925, Serial No. 37,896. Renewed September 17, 1830.

Special objects of this invention are to provlde a pump for washing machines and to combine the pump with the machine in such away as to preserve the balance of the machine and to be out of the way but at the same time readilyaccessible.

Other important objects are to arrange for free flow of the washin pump, to seal the drive sha t o the pump without resort to stufling boxes or the like, to provide a simple hose connection for the discharge side of the pump, and in general, to provlde an entirely practical and efficient pump structure.

Among the novel features of the invention are the location of the pum concentric to the drive shaft of the machine and at the bottom of the tank of the machine, between the gear box and the base of the column which supports the rotating element of the ma- .chlne; the provision of a well extending from the pump casing up about the drive shaft to form a seal and the connection of the drive shaft with the pump impeller by a sleeve extending down over the outside of said well; the division of the pump easing into up er and lower halves and the gripping o the discharge hose between these halves I without departure from the broad spirit and the washing machine.

sco e of the'invention as hereinafter defined an claimed. y v Y Figure 1 is a side elevation of the invention as embodied in a washing machine of thety e disclosed in my conding application, gen N0. 18 086, filed arch, 25, 1925. Figure 2'is a broken sectional part plan viewof the pump structure as taken on substantially the planeof line 2-2 of Figure 3.

Figure 3 is a broken enlarged vertical 'sec- 'tional view of the pump in its relation to 1i uid to the of the tank an a' tank 5 containing a clothes receptacle 6 supported on a hollow column 7 rising from the bottom of the tank'and adapted to be rotated by a shaft 8 extending up from the gear box 9 suspended from the bottom of the tank. An electric motor is indicated at 10 driving through a belt 11 the pulley 12 joursuit-. s this naled in the gear box and connected b able gearing with the drive shaft 8.

gearing forms no part of the present invention, being fully disclosed and covered in the application referred to, the same is not illustrated in detail. The shaft for driving the agitator 100 is shown at 13 extendin up through the receptacle driving shaft. w ich is made hollow for the purpose.

The receptacle 6 is provided with a hub 100 ournaled on the top of the pedestal 7 by the earings 101 and 102. The tubular drive shaft 8 and inner drive shaft 31 pass through the hollow pedestal 7,'being driven by the gearing in the gear box 9, the solid shaft havmg imparted thereto an oscillatory rotary motion and the tubular shaft having imparted thereto a continuous rotary motion. An agitator 103 is removably mounted on the top of the inner shaft by a spline connection 104. v The receptacle 6 is connected and disconnected from the tubular shaft by a clutch collar 105 feather-keyed to the tubular shaft 8 and having splines 106 engageable with s lines 107 on the reduced extension 108 of t e hub 100.

For washing the clutch collar 105 is in its lower position and the agitator 103 is mounted on top of the inner shaft as shown in Fig. 4- For drying, the agitator 103 is removed from the machine and the clutch collar is in its upper position,,to continuousl rotate the receptacle to drive water from t e laundry.

A feature'of the invention thus far described is the provision for circulation of water or washing liquid from the bottom of the tank up into the clothes receptacle by way of a supply conduit 14'rising at the side terminating in a swing nozcle into the tank or outslde the tank as re-.

quired. The pump of the present invention supplies the force for this circulation, the same being indicated at 16 in Figure 1, located below the tank,-interposed between the foot of the supporting column and the gear box and connected at its discharge side by a conduit 17 with the lower end of the riser 14.

The pum casing is shown in Figure 3 as made up 0 upper and lower halves or sections 18, 19, forming between them a pump chamber in which the impeller 20 operates. The upper casing section is shown as carrying an upstanding hub 21 forming a seat or socket for the supporting column 7 and as having secured to the top of the same by bolts 22, a flange 23'having an upstanding neck or collar 24 surrounded by resilient washers or cushions 25 between which enters the edge of the flange 26 which is 'securedto the bottom of the tank by the bolts 27. In this fashion the supporting column, pump and gear box are all resiliently connected with and suspended from the tank. The central opening 28 in the tank bottom is of suflicient size to freely pass the hub for the supporting columnand the surrounding collar 24, with suflicient space between these two to provide an annular inlet channel 29' opening at the bottom by ports 30 in the top of the pump casing into the axial portion of the pump chamber.

The pump inlet is shown as screened by a conical strainer 31 fitting closely about the supporting column at the top and seating at its lower end in the annular cavity 32 pro vided between the supporting neck and the surrounding rim of the tank opening.

The two casing sections and the gear box are shown as flanged at their edges and as secured together by bolts 33 passed through said flanges. The bolting together of the parts in'this relation isutilized in the illustration as a means for clamping the discharge conduit in place, said conduit section 17 being shown as a piece of hose having a nipple 34 inserted in the end ofthe same to prevent it from collapsing and this reinforced end is clamped between the cooperat-' ing rounded portions 35,36 of the upper and lower casing sections at the discharge side of the pump. In this way the hose is held to the pump without any exterior clamps or fastenings and the other end of the hose may be simply slipped over'an angular ex- "tension 37 on the lower end of the riser. This interposed section of flexible hose'se'rves to prevent any vibration being communicated from the pump to the tank, by way of the riser and the elastic washers by which the pump is secured to the bottom of the tank serve as a resilient mounting, cushioning the.

tary element 0 parts and preventing vibration being imparted to the tankbottom. 4

To eliminate the 'possiblhty of leakage from the pump down into the gearbox, a 'well 38 is provided extending from the bottom of the pump casing to a point above the highest possible liquid level in the tank. This well is shown as a section of pipe surrounding the drive shaft, seated in a hub 39 extended downward from the bottom half of the pum case and projecting up to a point above the bottom of the clothes receptacle. This tubular water well is shown as standing clear of the drive shaft which it surrounds and the impeller is shown as having a bearing thereon at 40.

The impeller is connected with the drive shaft 8, over the u per edge of the water well by a section 0 tubular shafting 41' on 1 the lower end of which the impeller is fixed and which carries at the upper end, a collar 42 closing the space over the well and secured to the drive shaft by screws 43. By thus interposing a tubular water well about the drive shaft and connecting the pump impeller with the drive shaft-over the upper edge of the tubular well, all possibility of leakage is avoided and this without resort to stuffing boxes or tight bearings which consume power and lose efficiency as they wear.

The concentric disposition of the pump is of special advantage in enabling a direct drive of the pump without the interposition of any intermediate gearing and this concentric arrangement further has a tendency to balance the mechanism and steady the running of the machine. At the same time this places thepump out of the way but leaves it readily accessible.-

-While I have shown and. described and have pointed out in the annexed claims certain novel features of my invention, it will be understood that various omissions, substitutions and changes in the forms and details of the device illustrated and in its operation may be made b those skilled in the art without departing rom the spirit of my invention.

What is claimed is: 1. In apparatusof the character disclosed, a horizontally disposed rotary pump, a drive shaft extending reely up through the re- "the-pump, a tubular water. well extendingfrom the bottom of the pump casing up around said shaft and a. tubular shaft connected" with the rotary element of the pump, extending upwardly around the water -wel1 and-connected; with the drive 7 shaft over-the top of the water well, the top of the pump casinghaving upstanding hubs spaced to provide an annular-channel forminganinlet to the pump.

V 2. In apparatus of the character disclosed, a horizontally disposed pump having a lo tary element and a casing separable on a hori I 40 pump and provided with cooperating porzontal line, a gear box, said gear box and the pump case sections having horizontally extending flanges, fastenings securing said flanges together, vertical shafting extending from the gear box up through the rotary element of the pump and drive connections from said sbafting to said rotary element, includ ing a tubular shaft connected with the rotary element of the pump and with the drive shaft' at a point above the pump and a stationary tubular bearing for the rotary element extended upward inside the tubular pump shaft. I

3. In combination, a rotary pump casing having upper and lower flanged sections, a ear box below said pump casing having a flange matching the flanges of the casing, fastenings securing. said gear box and casing flanges, shafting extending from the gear box up through thepump casing, an impeller within the pump casingconcentrically disposed about said shafting and a tubular drive member connected to said shafting at a point above the pump casing and to said impeller.

4. In combination, a rotary pump'casing 1 having upper and lower flanged sections, a gear box below said pump casing having a flange matching the flanges of the casing, fastenings securing said gear box and easing flanges, shafting extending from the gear box -up through the pump casing, an impeller within the pump casing concentrically disposed about said shaftlng, a tubular drive member connected to said shafting at a point above the pump casing and to said impeller and a tubular well extending'fro'm the lower section of the pump casing up about the drive shafting inside the tubular drive connection.

5. In combination, a rotary pump casing separable at right angles to the axis of the tion's forming the discharge outlet of the pump, a flexible hose entered in said outlet -'passage between the casing sections and a tubular liner in such inserted ortion of the hose, preventing collapsing of t e same under the clamping action of said sections.

6. In apparatus of the character disclosed, a tank havingabottom opening, a rotary pump beneath the tank and in communication therewith through said bottom opening,

said pump havinga laterally extending discharge conduit and a riser extending from said discharge conduit into communication with the interior of the tank, said riser being rigidly secured to the side ofthe tank and the discharge conduit of the pump havconduit section connected between the pump 9. In apparatus of the character disclosed,

extended upward rom said pump casing pro viding a seat for a supporting column, a second hub extended upward from the top of the, pump casing and spaced from the first hub to provide an annular inlet channel, the top of the casing having ports therein opening to said channel and means for supporting the pump engaged with said outer hub.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand. I

GEORGE W. DUNHAM.

ing a section of flexible hose interposed therein and means for resiliently supporting the pump-from the bottom of the tank.

7 Inapparatus of the character disclosed,

, a tank, apump in communication with said tank,--means for resiliently supporting said pump from the bottom of the tank, a conduit rigidly attached to the tank and a flexible 'a horizontally dis osed pump casing, a hub 

